McCain Averages a "D", Obama a "B" On Women's Issues

by Jen Nedeau

Published October 24, 2008 @ 03:24PM PT

This just in: there are no straight "A" students when it comes to Presidential candidates and their stances on women's issues, but the disparity between McCain and Obama could never be more clear on who is a better choice for women.

A network of over thirty economists from across America released a report card today grading Senator McCain and Senator Obama on 10 issues it described as vital to American women. Obama's grades averaged out to a B, while McCain scored a nearly failing grade of D.

The group's Vice Chair, Barbara Bergmann, Professor Emerita, American University, remarked, "It's not unfair to describe McCain as a firm enemy of many measures that would bring progress for women, while there is hope that under an Obama presidency, their situation could advance substantially."

Noting the importance of economic issues in a time of financial crisis, University of Massachusetts Boston Professor Randy Albelda said the candidates' stands on several of the issues in the report card give valuable insights into how they would handle the crisis.

REPORT CARD	McCain	Obama
Overall Grade	D	B
Health Care	C-	B-
Pay and Employment Equity	F	B
Retirement Security	D	B
Taxes	D	B-
Paid Time Off	D	B+
Child Care and Early Education	D	B
Poverty	D	B
Non-traditional Families	C-	B+
Domestic Violence	D	A
Reproductive Rights	F	A

"On the issue of taxes," said Professor Albelda, "McCain is rated a D and Obama a B- because McCain's tax plans provide much less help to ordinary Americans.  McCain's tax cuts for the wealthy would leave the government with much less revenue to provide relief for working families.  McCain says he would freeze government spending, certain to hit areas like health care and education that women rely on."

"Obama's crisis response includes extending unemployment benefits and building needed physical and social infra-structure, all of great value to middle class Americans," Professor Albelda said.

The group, The Economists' Policy Group for Women's Issues, looked at the candidates' voting records, statements, and positions taken on their web sites, and did not rate McCain higher than C- on any of the 10 issues. He was given a D on the issue of child care because of his lack of support for increasing government subsidies for child care. The typical low-income working mother spends 25 percent of her earnings on child care.  Increasing government support for child care, the group stressed, is one of the best means available to improve the life chances of these children. Obama favors considerable expansion of funds for child care and earned a solid B on the issue.

Many women have jobs that offer inadequate health care coverage or none at all.  They would benefit greatly from a national program that made universal health coverage available. Neither candidate offers that, but Obama's plan earned a grade of B- because it would cover all children and is likely to cover more adults than McCain's plan, which received a C-, one of his highest grades.  One of the report authors, Dr. Lois Shaw, a consultant, said, "The Group is concerned that under both plans, young, healthy adults might not purchase insurance, raising the costs to those who do."

In the area of retirement security, McCain earned a D, and Obama a B, because Obama opposes privatizing Social Security, while McCain has supported privatization in the past and has been less clear than Obama on how he would bring costs and revenues of the nation's retirement system into balance.

McCain's pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices like Alito and Scalia, who would overturn Roe v. Wade, earned him an F on the reproductive rights issue and his long-standing opposition to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) earned him a D on domestic violence. The group graded Obama an A on these two issues - reproductive rights, because he has pledged to support Roe v. Wade - and domestic violence, because of his support of the (VAWA).

Obama earned a B+ in two areas:  paid time off and non-traditional families, because of his support for a variety of federal measures that would increase paid sick days and paid and unpaid family leave, as well as his support for civil rights for gay and lesbian couples.

McCain earned a D and Obama a B in the area of poverty, because Obama calls for an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit among other poverty reduction measures.

The economists' report indicates that a revival of policies to reduce discrimination against women on the job is needed to move toward a fair labor market.  Government oversight of federal contractors and enforcement of the civil rights laws by the Employment Opportunity Commission must be strengthened, they argued.  McCain earned an F in this area (Pay and Employment Equity), while Obama earned a B because of his support for several equal pay bills pending in Congress.

The Group's Chair, Professor Nancy Folbre, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, noted that Joe Six Pack and Joe the Plumber are getting lots of attention in this campaign.  "What about Josephine the Working Mother, Wanda the Waitress, and Sarah the School Teacher?  These working women care about health care, pay equity, retirement security, paid time off, and child care and want to know how the candidates stand on these issues," Folbre said.